West Ham v Chelsea: Two rivals face one striking question

Chelsea and West Ham may reside at opposite ends of the Premier League table but they are united by an attacking weakness that has compromised their efforts this season.

The Blues have ostensibly not been hampered too much; they travel to Upton Park tomorrow evening sitting in fourth place, four points behind leaders Arsenal having scored 18 goals in their 11 games.

Only the Gunners, Liverpool and Manchester City have netted more but a closer analysis reveals why Jose Mourinho was so desperate to sign Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in the summer.

Samuel Eto’o has two League goals from seven appearances, Fernando Torres one from eight and Demba Ba none from three. Eden Hazard and Oscar have four each and Chelsea’s reliance on their attacking midfielders to not only create but also finish remains the loudest objection to their title claims.

They are likely to find the space in which to operate compressed by Sam Allardyce’s 4-6-0 system that was born out of necessity but has come to symbolise his tactical ingenuity.

West Ham, who have just nine goals from 11 League games, put most of their financial resources into signing Andy Carroll from Liverpool for £17million but a damaged ankle in pre-season wrecked Allardyce’s planning and the club were unable to bring in adequate cover.

He even made a late swoop across Stamford Bridge for Romelu Lukaku but the Belgian had already flown the nest to join Everton on loan (that decision continues to looks bizarre given his impact there and Chelsea’s immediate needs).

It is understood that Ba was another deadline-day option amid rival interest from Arsenal before Mourinho blocked his exit. Mladen Petric, woefully lacking match-fitness, duly arrived and Allardyce felt sufficiently short of options to offer Carlton Cole a three-month contract despite leaving in the summer to find a new club.

Yet Allardyce has instead largely persevered with a strikerless system that yielded such a fine away win at Tottenham and threatened to bury Norwich just prior to the international break before an uncharacteristic error from goalkeeper Jussi Jasskelainen handed the Canaries a way back into the match.

The Hammers’ profligacy therefore proved costly as they extended their unwelcome run to just one win from six matches; both they and Chelsea lack the cutting edge at times to offset the damage of any defensive mistakes.

Chelsea conceded two poor goals against West Brom before Eden Hazard converted the most dubious of penalties — regardless of what Mourinho claimed afterwards — to escape with a draw. Eto’o got the nod that day and given he scored to add to the brace he registered earlier that week against Schalke, the 32-year-old is surely favourite to retain his place against West Ham.

There is no doubting the Cameroon striker’s class but it is whether he can deliver the consistency of performance to sustain Chelsea’s challenge at home and abroad that remains his biggest challenge.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Ashley Cole, whose run on the sidelines with Chelsea is set to continue. Having been dropped by Mourinho for the club’s last two games, he was withdrawn in England’s friendly defeat to Germany on Tuesday after aggravating a rib problem that ruled him out for three weeks earlier in the season.

Mourinho could turn to Ryan Bertrand or more likely Cesar Azpilicueta, who the Chelsea manager made a point of singling out while the Spaniard was not playing and has subsequently given him his chance.

Allardyce has defensive concerns with injuries to centre-backs James Collins and Joey O’Brien forcing both to withdraw from international duty this week. Razvan Rat is unlikely to be fit because of a hamstring problem, joining Winston Reid and George McCartney on the sidelines.

“We can’t really extend ourselves to too many more defensive injuries — we are quite short in the defensive area,” said Allardyce. “Hopefully Joey and James will recover.”

Then again, he could just play some more midfielders — it has worked when he did not have any forwards.

Big-match guide

Frank Lampard returns to Upton Park tomorrow knowing he has seven months to convince Roy Hodgson he should be in the England squad for the World Cup. The midfielder, 35, admits he is not guaranteed a seat on the plane to Brazil and needs to make sure he is playing regularly for Chelsea.

Sam Allardyce has no idea when record signing Andy Carroll will return from his heel injury and West Ham’s lack of goals is a big concern. Only Crystal Palace and Sunderland have scored fewer than the Hammers, who are without a win in four League games.

Joe Cole believes West Ham could benefit from Chelsea players travelling thousands of miles around the world during the international break. Juan Mata was in South Africa with Spain while Brazil stars Oscar, David Luiz and Ramires played two friendlies in North America. “We have had two weeks to prepare,” said Cole.